Borrowed English Words from Italian

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. The secret form of voting we term 'ballot', originates from the proper name for an Italian secret religious society. True False

2. What two word phrase, originally from the Italian, would we use to describe Betty Ford, Dolley Madison or any overly temperamental person who has an elevated sense of ego? Answer: (Two words (also, think lead female opera singer!))

3. The names of several musical instruments come to us from the Italian. One of these is 'piano', which is a shortened form of what original Italian term? Pianoforte Pianossava Pianomedlia Pianocchio

4. Which English word comes to us originally from an Italian exclamation calling soldiers 'to arms!'? Answer: (One word, 5 letters)

5. The word 'incognito', which is used to describe a person who, for whatever reason, has chosen to hide her/his identity, is Italian for which of the following? Mask Unknown Sneaky Stranger

6. American radio personality Rush Limbaugh would be familiar with this English word meaning 'the same thing again', that comes from the word for 'said' in one Italian local dialect. What is this word? Alike Ditto Akin Ibid

7. Speaking of Mr. Limbaugh, detractors of the learned political commentator might be familiar with this word, from the Italian, which means 'a ridiculous but amusing person'. Which of the following is the Italian-derived term described here? Buffoon Lumpen Imbecile Poltroon

8. The word 'attack' can be traced back to the Italian 'attacco', meaning, what else, 'an attack'. True False

9. If you have suffered from an English word derived from the phrase 'broken bench' in Italian, what terrible thing has probably occurred? You have been defeated in a sporting match You have broken a major bone You have lost all of your money You have lost your sanity

10. When many of us think of the Italian language, some of the first terms that come to our minds are the names of various pasta. With this in mind, did the word 'pasta' come to English by way of Italian? Yes No